DiMaggio v. Tucker
| Decision Date | 21 February 2023 |
| Docket Number | 2021-234-Appeal.,PC 11-1302 |
| Citation | 288 A.3d 981 |
| Parties | Debra DIMAGGIO v. Ethan TUCKER. |
| Court | Rhode Island Supreme Court |
Matthew T. Oliverio, Esq., for Plaintiff.
Andrew J. Tine, Esq, for Defendant.
Present: Suttell, C.J., Goldberg, Robinson, Lynch Prata, and Long, JJ.
The defendant, Ethan Tucker, appeals from the Providence County Superior Court's grant of partial summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff, Debra DiMaggio. Mr. Tucker contends that the hearing justice improperly applied the law of the case doctrine when ruling on Ms. DiMaggio's motion for partial summary judgment. This case came before the Supreme Court pursuant to an order directing the parties to show cause why the issues raised in this appeal should not be summarily decided. After carefully examining the record and the parties’ arguments (both written and oral), we are of the opinion that cause has not been shown and that the appeal may be resolved without further briefing or argument. For the reasons set forth in this opinion, we affirm the judgment of the Superior Court.
On September 28, 2009, Mr. Tucker signed a Promissory Note (the Promissory Note) in favor of Ms. DiMaggio in the amount of $1,150,000. That Promissory Note consolidated numerous debts which Mr. Tucker owed Ms. DiMaggio pursuant to her advances to Mr. Tucker for their various joint real estate projects in Rhode Island and Illinois. The Promissory Note, which was secured by a mortgage on certain real estate located at 1200 Hope Street, Bristol, Rhode Island (the Bristol property), provided for a 11.9 percent interest rate on the principal amount owed and for a default rate of 25 percent.
On October 21, 2010, counsel for Ms. DiMaggio sent Mr. Tucker a notice of default and demand for payment under the Promissory Note and demanded that Mr. Tucker make immediate payment of the principal amount of $1,150,000, plus interest. Mr. Tucker did not respond to that October 21, 2010 notice and demand. Accordingly, on March 8, 2011, Ms. DiMaggio filed a six-count complaint1 against Mr. Tucker, seeking injunctive relief, compensatory and punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees.
On February 6, 2012, counsel for Ms. DiMaggio sent Mr. Tucker a letter that constituted a further "notice of default and acceleration of all payments." That document indicated that, if Mr. Tucker did not pay by February 27, 2012, "all outstanding liabilities, including the sum of principal, accrued and accruing interest, costs, late charges, and legal fees," amounting to $1,990,702.10 (as of February 6), Ms. DiMaggio would proceed with a mortgage foreclosure sale on the Bristol property. Mr. Tucker proceeded to file a motion for a preliminary injunction, seeking to enjoin the scheduled March 21, 2012 foreclosure sale. Mr. Tucker contended that the Promissory Note was not enforceable because: (1) Ms. DiMaggio had fraudulently induced him to sign the note; (2) there was no consideration for the note; and (3) the note violated Rhode Island's usury statute, G.L. 1956 § 6-26-2.
On March 19, 2012, an evidentiary hearing was conducted with respect to Mr. Tucker's motion for a preliminary injunction, and on the next day the hearing justice issued a bench decision denying that motion.
The hearing justice first ruled: (1) that the note was not usurious because § 6-26-2 was not applicable to the parties’ business transaction; and (2) that, even if said statute did apply, Mr. Tucker's usury argument would fail as a matter of law because the alleged usurious rate (viz. , 25 percent) had been triggered by Mr. Tucker's voluntary act of default.2
The hearing justice further ruled that Mr. Tucker's argument as to the lack of consideration failed on the ground that, pursuant to G.L. 1956 § 6A-3-303, "a promissory note provided to evidence an antecedent obligation, such as a debt, does not need to be supported by consideration independent of that which was previously furnished * * *."
Finally, the hearing justice summarized the four elements that a party must prove to prevail on a claim of fraud in the inducement. See Women's Development Corporation v. City of Central Falls , 764 A.2d 151, 161 (R.I. 2001). She determined that "defendant has failed to show evidence that fulfills all of the elements of fraud in the inducement;" and she specifically determined as follows:
"Defendant has not offered any credible evidence, either through testimony or otherwise, to show any false statement made by the plaintiff with the intent to induce defendant's reliance thereon with regard to the note."
On April 23, 2012, Ms. DiMaggio filed a motion for summary judgment as to each of the counts in the complaint; and Mr. Tucker filed an objection thereto. However, that motion was passed, and discovery ensued.
Many years later, on November 10, 2020,3 Ms. DiMaggio filed a motion for partial summary judgment with respect to Counts One and Two.4 In objecting to that motion, Mr. Tucker reiterated the lack of consideration and fraud in the inducement arguments upon which he had relied in his 2012 motion for preliminary injunction that was denied by the first hearing justice.
On February 10, 2021, a different justice (to whom we shall refer as "the second hearing justice") held a hearing on the just-mentioned motion of Ms. DiMaggio for partial summary judgment; and he proceeded to render a bench decision as to same on February 22, 2021. In that decision, the second hearing justice reasoned that, because the first hearing justice had determined that Mr. Tucker's defenses as to both the lack of consideration and fraud in the inducement issues failed as a matter of law and because the only additional evidence provided by Mr. Tucker was an affidavit which "just repeated the initial defenses that [the court] considered in 2012 and has not added anything to it that has come to light in the interim time[,]" the law of the case doctrine applied and was dispositive. Accordingly, the second hearing justice granted Ms. DiMaggio's motion for partial summary judgment on Counts One and Two. A final judgment under Rule 54(b) of the Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure entered as to those two counts on April 2, 2021, and Mr. Tucker thereafter filed a timely notice of appeal.
On appeal, Mr. Tucker contends that the second hearing justice improperly applied the law of the case doctrine when granting Ms. DiMaggio's motion for partial summary judgment.
This Court reviews "Superior Court rulings with respect to summary judgment motions in a de novo manner." Papudesu v. Medical Malpractice Joint Underwriting Association of Rhode Island , 18 A.3d 495, 497 (R.I. 2011). In doing so, we utilize "the same standards and rules used by the hearing justice." Newstone Development, LLC v. East Pacific, LLC , 140 A.3d 100, 103 (R.I. 2016) (quoting Daniels v. Fluette , 64 A.3d 302, 304 (R.I. 2013) ). It is further well established that "[w]e review the evidence in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party and will affirm the judgment if there exists no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Lynch v. Spirit Rent-A-Car, Inc. , 965 A.2d 417, 424 (R.I. 2009).
It is a fundamental principle that "[o]nce the party seeking summary judgment has alleged the absence of any disputed issues of material fact, the opposing party, to avoid summary judgment, must come forward with proof sufficient to establish the existence of a specific, material, triable fact." Barrett v. Barrett , 894 A.2d 891, 894 (R.I. 2006). We have explicitly stated that "[a]lthough summary judgment is recognized as an extreme remedy, * * * to avoid summary judgment the burden is on the nonmoving party to produce competent evidence that ‘proves the existence of a disputed issue of material fact.’ " Sullo v. Greenberg , 68 A.3d 404, 407 (R.I. 2013) (brackets omitted) (quoting Mutual Development Corp. v. Ward Fisher & Company, LLP , 47 A.3d 319, 323 (R.I. 2012) ). We have further stated that "[d]emonstrating mere factual disputes will not defeat summary judgment; the requirement is that there be no genuine issue of material fact." Henry v. Media General Operations, Inc ., 254 A.3d 822, 835 (R.I. 2021) (quoting Deutsche Bank National Trust Company for Registered Holders of Ameriquest Mortgage Securities, Inc. v. McDonough , 160 A.3d 306, 311 (R.I. 2017) ).
Furthermore, and significantly, it is a basic principle that the party opposing summary judgment "will not be allowed to rely upon mere allegations or denials in [the] pleadings." Bourg v. Bristol Boat Co. , 705 A.2d 969, 971 (R.I. 1998). "Rather, by affidavits or otherwise [it has] an affirmative duty to set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue of material fact." Id. ; see also Newstone Development, LLC , 140 A.3d at 103 ; The Providence Journal Company v. Convention Center Authority , 774 A.2d 40, 46 (R.I. 2001).
Mr. Tucker challenges the ruling of the second hearing justice to the effect that the law of the case doctrine disposes of the arguments that were based on the lack of consideration and fraud in the inducement.
The law of the case doctrine "is a rule of practice, based on sound policy that, when an issue is once * * * decided, that should be the end of the matter." Barrett v. Baylor , 457 F.2d 119, 123 (7th Cir. 1972) (citing United States v. United States Smelting, Refining & Mining Co. , 339 U.S. 186, 198, 70 S.Ct. 537, 94 L.Ed. 750 (1950) ); see also Quillen v. Macera , 160 A.3d 1006, 1012-13 (R.I. 2017). The doctrine states that "after a judge has decided an interlocutory matter in a pending suit, a second judge, confronted at a later stage of the suit with the same question in the identical manner, should refrain from disturbing the first ruling." Salvadore v. Major Electric & Supply, Inc. , 469 A.2d 353, 356 (R.I. 1983). This Court has noted that "[t]he purpose of the law of the case doctrine is...
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